Tag: home organization

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How Minimalism Proves Lasting Change is Possible

Posted on by Joy

Do you believe people can change? I’ve always struggled with making lasting changes in my life. Sometimes I feel like I was born with a brain that is hard-wired with traits, habits, and behaviors that can’t be re-programmed. It’s tempting to live on autopilot – doing things the way we’ve always done them. We might get inspired and change our methods for a while, but it’s easy to revert to old habits. Change can look like a mountain that just won’t move. A few years ago, I felt like I needed a major change. With my youngest son headed to Read more…

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Decluttering Layer by Layer

Posted on by Joy

If you’ve resolved to declutter your home this year, this post is for you. I’m going to share how I decluttered my home and reduced the stress that “stuff” was adding to my life. About five years ago, I began a journey into minimalism. I walked the path slowly, reducing the clutter in my home and my life gradually. I read several books about how to declutter, but none of their methods met my need to minimize in a slow, cyclical manner that would produce new habits and lasting results. To borrow some weight-loss terminology: Fad diets didn’t work for Read more…

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Minimalist Concepts Anyone Can Use To De-clutter

Posted on by Joy

“We’re out sharing a recipe. You know, we’re not out here trying to proselytize. We’re not trying to convert anyone to minimalism. But I do want to share a recipe and see if there are ingredients that other people can get value from and apply those ingredients to their own life.” – Joshua Fields Millburn, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things Over the past few years, I’ve read countless books, articles, and blog posts on minimalism. I also enjoyed watching Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things on Netflix. I don’t claim to be a minimalist (yet), but I’ve begun Read more…

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Five Things I Minimized to Create Space in My Home

Posted on by Joy

Several years ago, I discovered minimalism through Joshua Becker’s blog, Becoming Minimalist. I was drawn to the concept of making more room for joy in my life by removing possessions. I recognized that I was spending a lot of time cleaning, organizing, and managing our home and its contents, instead of spending that time enjoying my family and friends. I must admit, minimizing is still a struggle for me today, but the progress I’ve made encourages me to continue. Does this mean my goal is a stark white house with only the most essential items inside it? Absolutely not! My goal Read more…

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Introducing…Our New Home

Posted on by Joy

My full house tour is finally here! Oddly, it’s not the tour I’d imagined when I started this blog. Since then, my family has moved out of our rental and into our own lovely lowcountry home. When we moved to Charleston three years ago, we thought living here was temporary, but life has a way of surprising us in the most wonderful ways. We’ve become attached to the community here, so when the opportunity to buy a house presented itself, we went for it! We chose this house because it bucks the trend of super-sized houses on tiny building lots. Read more…

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Staging Your Home to Sell

Posted on by Joy

My husband and I have gone house hunting several times, and it never ceases to amaze me how awful some houses look when they’re on the market. As I walk through the house, I’m thinking, “They expect someone to buy the place looking like this?!” I’ve wondered the same thing while looking at real estate listings online. As I scroll through the photos, I think, “Wow. They need to find a new realtor.” If you don’t believe me, just click here. There are entire websites dedicated to showing you how not to list a home. If you are willing to put Read more…

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How I Found A “New” Wardrobe In My Own Closet

Posted on by Joy

Have you ever stared into your closet full of clothes and thought, “I can’t find anything to wear”? I found this happening to me on a regular basis, but couldn’t figure out why. I had plenty of shirts, sweaters, skirts, jeans, etc. Why was I having such trouble putting an outfit together each day? First, I thought, “Maybe I need a whole new wardrobe. I should get rid of all this and start over.” Then I thought about the time and money that idea would cost me, and rejected it swiftly! Next, I thought, “Maybe I have too much clothing. Read more…